Disease
|
Diagnostic Problems
|
| Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) |
Seropositive HIV virus is diagnostic when clinical signs are present. |
| Hyperthyroidism (thyrotoxicosis) |
Long lead time; rapid onset resembles anxiety attack. |
| Hypothyroidism (myxedma) |
Madness may mimic schizophrenia; mental status is clear, even during most
disturbed behavior. |
| Hyperparathyroidism |
Anorexia and fatigue of slow-growing adenoma resemble involutional depression. |
| Hypoparathyroidism |
None; rare condition except after surgery |
| Hyperadrenalism (Cushing's disease) |
Bizarre somatic delusions caused by bodily changes resemble involutional
depression. |
| Adrenocortical insufficiency (Addison's disease) |
Long lead time; weight loss, apathy, despondency resemble involutional depression. |
| Porphyria - acute intermittent type |
Patients often have truly neurotic lifestyles; crises resemble conversion
reactions or anxiety attacks. |
| Pernicious anemia |
Long lead time, sometimes many months; easily mistaken for involutional
depression; normal early blood studies may give false reassurance. |
| Hepatolenticular degeneration (Wilson's disease) |
In late teens, may resemble adolescent storm, incorrigibility or schizophrenia. |
| Hypoglycemia (islet cell adenoma) |
Can mimic anxiety attack or acute alcoholism; bizarre behavior may draw
attention away from somatic symptoms. |
| Intracranial tumors |
Tumor location may not determine early symptoms. |
| Pancreatic carcinoma |
Long lead time; exact age and symptoms of involutional depression. |
| Pheochromocytoma |
Classic symptoms of anxiety, intermittently normal blood pressures may discourage
further studies. |
| Multiple sclerosis |
Long lead time, early neurological symptoms mimic hysteria or conversion
disorders. |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus |
Long lead time, perhaps many years; psychiatric picture variable over time;
though disorder resembles schizophrenia, steroid psychosis. |
